Tykes and Dogs
by CassInMyAss
Summary: Tykes and Dogs stars my OC Hunters Tik  a shapeshifter and Ben a skinwalker. Though they'd be called 'monsters' by any other Hunter, they do their best to take out the real demons and things that go bump in the night. Canons may make appearances.
1. Bar Scene

The bar was everything Tik could have hoped it would be, and then some. The Hornet was a cultural hive of good music being sung by awful cover bands, the bar stools were stuck to the floor by the power of dried beer. It smelled like someone, or perhaps several someones had died and been left there during the summer heat.

Tik's usually bored expression carried a flicker of interest as she took a step in, her mini-braids were all pulled back into a comfortably loose pony tail, her bright green eyes glanced about. She was about to set her second footfall down when the bouncer called her back.

"Hey lady, you can't bring your dog into the bar. No pets." He looked apologetic, and Tik forgave him. She had forgotten all about Ben. Her eyes set down upon the rather small red heeler dog. The animal was looking back up at her with an expression that could only have been embarrassment. He shook himself and his collar jangled, briefly exposing the silver cross. She knelt down and rubbed the dog's head. "Sorry sir, Ben'll just wait outside, won't he?" Tik asked, but somehow her voice sounded more rhetorical than anything.

Tik smiled as the dog gave her one last look and turned to pad himself outside where he gave the guard a reproachful look and walked off. Barely anyone had taken notice, and those that had, well, most of their attention was on Tik herself and not the animal.

It was no wonder why they looked at her, she had beautiful bronze skin and green eyes that popped (didn't help that she was wearing faint gold eyeliner that made them even more vibrant). Her beautiful dark brown hair was braided in close rows on her scalp before pulled into a lost ponytail. It was about medium length, and when inspected closely, there were tiny beads braided into the hair. Tik ran her hands down her sides, her arms covered in fingerless red button-down gloves, her comfortable jeans were loose, but still showed every aspect that was woman.

Her shirt was more or less a functioning corset with a glorified bra. The rope strings exposed her belly and she smiled. She crossed the room with an unnaturally fluid motion before sitting easily on the bar stool and tapped it - though she already had the bartender's attention.

"Hi, I'm waiting for a friend, and we'll order a Jack with Coke and... " Tik appeared to be thinking, "Whatever the most potent drink you have is. Work on Monday, and it's going to be hell." She gave him a wink before smiling, "Thanks ahead of time."

The bartender just looked at her before shrugging, it wasn't his job to ask questions of the customers, and he was there to lend an ear if they happened to talk. He threw the towel over his shoulder, he might as well be a psychiatrist.

Tik had been sitting relaxed, one elbow on the bar top, the hand attached was palm-up, and fit her chin perfectly. As she settled onto it, her senses went on alert. After all, she wasn't just here on pleasure despite the... her eyes winced as the band hit a particularly bad sharp note. All of the sudden her body language changed, her eyes darted towards the door as a remarkably handsome man strode in. His messy blonde hair was tossed about as if he'd been running - or just had a good romp in the sheets. In other words, every woman in the place had eyes on him.

Everyone in the place stop talking for a moment to look at him, then back to whatever they were discussing as the blonde looked up and spotted Tik. He lifted his hand as a welcome, which she ignored. Luckily she could turn her attention to the drink that had just been place in front of her. The man sat down next to her, and he reached out a hand to grasp the Jack with Coke. He took a sip and looked around before talking to her.

"Tik, _Tiiik_, the band is awful," he whined at her as they hit a series of poorly played notes. In fact, the man looked as though he would rather jump on stage and strangle the musicians than sit there and listen.

"Calm down Ben, you have no taste," Tik teased in her monotone voice, she fingered the drink, dipping her finger and swirling the multicolored poison around before sucking the alcohol off. She looked over at Ben as he whimpered again and slammed his head down onto the bar top.

Tik just grinned and tossed back her drink.


	2. What Had to Pass

Tik's eyes were cloudy with tears as she lay awake on the bed. Her head turned slowly to look at Ben sleeping on the other queen sized bed they had paid for. She bit her lower lip to keep from waking him, not wanting him to know that she knew.

The man was tossing and turning, his brows furrowed with worry, anger and sorrow; all at the same time. His beautiful blonde hair was soaked, and he flailed in the bed. The noises coming from his mouth were a mixture of human whimpers and dog whines. Slurred half words were spoken, "No." "Sto-." Each clipped and painful to hear.

Suddenly Ben snapped awake, he bolted upright before lunging off his bed - completing the fast transformation from man to dog in seconds. His claws clacked on the floor as he gave a long whine before walking over to Tik's bed to check on her.

Tik forced her body to relax, releasing the tension in her body as she breathed even and deep, faking sleep. Ben stood next to her bed looking at her for some time, he sat down perfectly before something outside caught his attention and he headed for the window.

The heeler dog stuck his broad head next to the window and stared out, he looked back at Tik before shaking his head - best not to wake her. It had been a long day finding and fighting that house of ghosts.

A family had been murdered in their home, and until recently had been rather friendly - not showing themselves and such. Out of the blue however, they had gone on a spree, killing the family who occupied their house and the cops who had come in to investigate the crime.

Ben's head titled down as he licked at a raw slash mark on his forelimb, the bandaging had come off when he'd transformed and now the wound seeped. He gave it a final cleaning lick before looking back out the window. Ben was desperate to distract his mind from his nightmares. Again he glanced at the sleeping Tik, then hung his head.

He missed her. Horribly. His Sarah, she had been everything he had ever wanted in life and then some. The way she had laughed at him when he told her that the stray she'd been seeing around and leaving food out for was him. The way her red hair bounced on her shoulders and how her pale blue eyes were so startlingly full of life. A smile crossed the dog's maw, his tail started to pick up a beat as he sat by the window. Happy memories piled in. Their first kiss, her reaction to his skinwalker abilities, the fact that despite loving the color hot pink it did not look good on her. It washed out her face and made her hair seem fake. The feel of her hair wrapped in his hand, walking hand in hand. Goofing off at the dog park, running laps around the other dogs and proudly obeying any and all commands from Sarah.

Suddenly his tail stopped moving, the wall of good memories began to crumble. Blood, so much blood. Screams from outside the house, he had been out with Dick and the gang. Running up the front steps and into the house, seeing the walls coated in blood. He had burst into the room only to see Sarah discarding the body of her best friend Shane - her throat slashed.

The sudden stench of sulfur and that bone grinding laugh. Black, soulless eyes. _Demon_. He remembered flying into a blind rage, snarling and snapping - transforming and leaping upon Sarah's bemused face, his jaws crunching together and blood filling his maw. Still more laughing, a sharp stabbing pain in his side and suddenly she was gone and he lay there bleeding and crying on the floor until the police came.

Unsolved, a stranger at the door. Tik. Shapeshifter. Demonic Possession. Trapped in the body of the dog, releasing to the emotions - picked up at the pound. A cold room, but he felt lifeless, seeing the needle and suddenly Tik-who-wasn't-Tik running in and stopping it, taking him home. Coaxing him back to life, given a purpose. Revenge as black as oil.

"I can help you find it."

The blue heeler threw his head back and gave a long, mournful howl, his body stiff and tight as he did so, transforming back into the half man he was and looking across the room at Tik. "Are you alright?"

W_hat a dumb question._


	3. Shed Your Skin

Tik stood there, her skin feeling itchy as her father eyed her from across the diner. She did her very best to remain still, but it was so hard when it felt like ants were crawling all over her skin. Tik let out a soft whine, and her father pursed his lips.

"Tik, what is it?" he asked, looking around, under the table Tik knew he was fingering his gun.

"Father, my skin, it itches." She complained, desperately trying not to scratch and focus on the target, she saw her father's eyes soften and he reached a hand across the table towards her. She lifted up one of her own and settled it in his.

"Do you have to change?" he asked softly, watching his daughter and the demon they were after very carefully. Though she was technically not his daughter by blood (but by a man who had posed as him), Tik was his daughter and he loved her more than anything. "It's okay honey, we can come back."

Tik wanted desperately to shake her head and tell him nothing was more important than the vamp sitting eight feet from them. However, she was in agony over her skin. It felt too tight, it hurt. She just wanted to rip it off. Which, would not have really been a problem.

But Tik wasn't just human. Shapeshifter.

Already, she could see where the white skin peaked through as she tried to prevent shedding. This problem, he father had mused, happened because she was still growing. Ordinarily, a shifter never outgrew it's skin. But Tik was thirteen, and hitting yet another growth spurt. Already she was nearly five and a half feet tall. He could tell the skin under was going to make her even taller. He gripped her hand and scattered exact change onto the table. "C'mon honey, let's go."

Tik looked so grateful when he said that that Mark almost wept. Tik asked for very little in life, she wanted to please him - and no matter how much he told her she did, it was never enough. She had a drive to be the best for her father because of what she was. As soon as they exited the diner they travelled up the alley - and Tik's arms started to work.

Whining, she clawed at her own arms. Her father watched quietly as she did so, trying to hide how horrified he was when her rich bronze skin sloughed off in pieces, exposing pale white skin. He watched her eyes change from beautiful green to flat brown, her hair fell out and under that was stick strawberry red hair that fell wet and sticky. Tik grimaced as she pulled loose skin from her body before reaching for the towel her father offered her. They gathered up the remaining skin and burned it. The black flame that rose from it reflected in the child's gaze.

Tik looked up at her father, her eyes watery. He settled one of those big hands on her shoulder and smiled, "It's alright Tik, I'm so proud of you."

Tike just nodded her head and then looked at the diner, she could see it across the street. Her now brown eyes widened and she pulled on her father's jacket. "Pappi, Pappi, there he goes!" she cried softly, pulling on his shirt. He whirled and looked. The sound of a blade came out and Tik started at the machete without a care. She fingered her own pig sticker.

"Follow me Tik," he commanded to her, in a step he switched from her father to a hunter. She tried to do the same, move the way he did; like a jungle cat. But she still felt clumsy in her new skin, she tripped several times - thankfully not making a noise each time.

They caught up with the vampire as it was leading it's victim into a dark alley. Her father signaled for her to stay put and keep a lookout. She signed back and he vanished into the night. Tik's little hands gripped and sweated on the handle of her short dagger. She gulped before looking into the alley.

"Tik!" her father cried, Tik mustered all the courage she could at thirteen and raced in, she slammed into the Vampire's hip and offset him just as he was about to splash some blood into her father's mouth. She screamed and stabbed the evil thing in the side, distracting him long enough that he turned from her father and towards her. Tik glared at him as her tiny body was flung effortlessly against the wall. She saw stars and her father cutting the vamps head off. She grinned and lay there. Her father walked over and sat next to her against the wall. "Any broken bones?"

"Nope," and then they started to laugh.


	4. Creative Interrogating

Ben's head turned at Tik's shout, he yelped and dove to the left, narrowly avoiding the blade that hissed through the air. He crashed into an old chair, it shattered under his weight and he hit the wall. He turned around with his silver knife in hand and growled, seeing that Tik was engaging the target.

She was a fighting machine, her ivory skin and pale red hair was only matched by her nearly glowing green eyes, this was Melanie Conrad - one of her many personas. She let out a savage yell and forced the demon back further. Tik's brows furrowed as the demon slashed at her arm - she screamed as the silver weapon touched her skin.

Ben snarled and charged the demon, transforming seamlessly into his dog form with a snarl. He latched onto the offending arm as the demon howled - and then cackled. It's black blood filled Ben's mouth and he gaged, letting go and shaking his head. It gave Tik enough time to step up and trip the demon backwards into the Devil's Trap. Frustrated, the demon snarled before getting up.

Tike hissed as her also black blood ran from the minor cut on her arm. The demon chuckled and Ben, back in human form now, walked over with bandage supplies. Tik, leaving Ben to tend her arm rounded on the demon. "Look here you prick, there are more of you than ever and I want to know, this can be easy, or this can be hard. Which ballpark do you want to play in?"

The bandage was good and secure when Ben let go. He turned towards the demon, and then looked away as memories washed over him. Tik spared him a glance before looking back at the demon, three years later and he still couldn't get over Sarah. She looked at the demon as it laughed, "Now, why would I tell you that shapeshifter?" he mocked her. She tighened her grip on her hand gun before aiming it for the demon's leg.

"Oh please darling, what's that going to do, break this meatsuit's body?" it laughed at her again, and then screamed in pain as Tik's handgun fired off a round.

"Specialty bullets, bitch. My own make. Soaked in holy water with a coating of salt worked into the metal." She laughed bitterly at him and leveled her gun at him again. "Now, I believe you were answering my question."

The demon spat at her, "Like I'd tell you. Little whore," he yelped suddenly as the right side of his face was splashed with a cocktail of holy water and salt. Ben's normally calm green eyes were lit by flames.

"Answer the question you filthy thing." he snarled, barely resisting the transformation that rocked his body. He glanced at Tik before nodding that he was alright - they needed to focus on the demon, not Ben's control issues.

Tik flicked her eyes back to the demon. "Oh, do tell. I had heard something went down in Wyoming - not that anything really important happens in Wyoming." her expression was mockingly bored. She holstered her gun and then smiled, "So tell me."

"First off," the demon said, suddenly feeling rather forthcoming, "Us demons didn't do a damn thing. You should be thanking the Winchester brothers for opening the gate to Hell." There was a crazed light in the demon's eyes, "Oh yes, I'm so thankful to them for what they did. It was Hell down there." He let loose a bitter laugh.

Tik had gone stiff. Ben looked at her worriedly, something had made her on the alert. He sniffed the air, but nothing caught his attention immediately. "Tik?" he inquired. He nudged her and she came out of her trance.

"Right, and I'm supposed to take your word that the best god-damned hunters are the ones who let you cocksucking assholes out. That right?" she said, her hand settling easy on her gun before her eyes flicked back up to the demon.

He licked his lips, "Yeah, that's the idea. I mean, why would I lie?"

Ben snorted, "Because you're a demon? Duh."

The demon glared at him, "Contrary to popular belief, we don't lie _all_ the time."

Tik shrugged and out of her mouth poured a latin incantation - minutes later the demon was gone. Ben looked at Tik curiously, "Time we paid a visit to an old friend." She said grimly.


	5. Where the Journey Leads

Tik's face was shadowed by the night as the rain poured down from above. She lifted a hand, cursing the fact that she didn't have an umbrella. She raced across the street towards her beautiful truck, her hand clicking the beeper.

Her heart warmed as her truck unlocked and welcomed her into the bright interior. She heaved herself in and slammed the door. the drum of rain on the metal was soothing - but Tik was still soaked. she turned the truck on and smiled as the vehicle roared. She was about to turn on her music when a scream rent the night.

Instantly Tik's hunter senses were on alert. She checked her handgun before stowing it and heading back out into the rain. It no longer mattered that it was going to ruin her hair. She grasped the nickle handle before approaching the house. It stood alone, out of the way. Tik listened, and when sounds of a struggle were apparent, she snarled and kicked down the door. She raised her gun and leveled it - then stopped and blinked.

There was a dog, on the medium side, red, attacking a woman covered in blood. Tik's gaze took in the throat slit corpse - then the woman's eyes flashed back and Tik fired one holy bullet into the she-demon's shoulder. The creature shrieked in fury at the unseen attacker.

The dog just snarled at her, his teeth bloody from grasping the demon's face and ripping into it.

"Good dog," she said softly.

The demon took one look at her and started to laugh - Tik wanted to cover her ears. Clearly the animal did as well. Then it launched again for the woman's face, but this time the demon was anticipating it. She stabbed the dog in the side - the creature yelped loudly and fell to the ground, loosing his hold on the dog and slipping back into his human form.

Tik's eyes widened and then she turned her full attention to the demon. She fired a bullet into the demon's heart - after all, the woman inside was as good as dead anyhow. Tik then forced the demon into a corner and the sweetest latin poured from her mouth. The demon gave a shriek of fury and charged, Tik calmly shot out it's knee caps and kept going. When she was done the demon erupted out of the woman's mouth with a scream and was gone.

The shapeshifter turned to the other monster: a skinwalker. She crouched next to the man (once again a dog) and sighed, "Look, my name is Tik. Sorry about the girl. You need medical attention right now." Lifting up the small frame, she hoisted the animal out into the rain and into her car. It was three miles to the nearest vet clinic and Tik was there in two seconds (after her car started up). She charged in with the dog before laying him on the floor and calling for help. She made up a story on the spot - she'd found him by the side of the road with the huge gash in his side. They assured her the most would be done to help him.

Tik waiting until the surgeon came back and told her that the animal was fine. She left after that.

Two weeks later she was passing through town and something told her to find that strange Skinwalker. She headed for the local pound, obviously the dog would have had to travel through here to his new home. The attendant looked at her strangely before, "He's in the back, next in line to be put down. He's bitten three people already and no one can handle him." She looked sad and then yelped when Tik raced into the back room.

First of all, it wasn't like the hound would know who Tik was - she was wearing a different guise. One Liz Taylor, black hair and serious hazel eyes. Slim, but she wasn't skinny. She charged back into the room and slammed the door open, her foot lashed out at the needle in the veterinarian's hand. She took a deep breath. "I'm adopting this dog."

The animal looked at her, and apart from the flicker of memory, he had dead eyes. She reached out a hand and settled it on his shoulder. "C'mon boy, let's go." She turned and the dog snorted before skittering off the table after her. She smiled as the animal gave her a suspicious look, then growled. They exited the pound and Tik opened the door for him to jump in, "Alright Spot, let's get things straight -"

"My name is _not_ Spot, and if you call me that again, I will bite you."


	6. History

Ben had been bitten at a young age, and his skinwalker ability was something he had to cope with forever. It was odd to tell his friends that the stray they'd been feeding scraps to was him. His family was poor, and so he did what he had to to get by - after all, if he ate less, his parents could eat more, work more, and earn more money.

He was never stingy about the food, but he always gave each meal a good long sniff before consuming it. Little Ben had heard one too many stories about stray dogs eating poison.

Of course his parents knew about his abilities, his heightened senses all the time, his ability to run faster, turn quicker - it made him an absolutely superstar at soccer. The hardest thing Ben had had to learn was to share, it didn't come as naturally to him as he would have hoped, but he always spread the glory away from himself.

When it came to highschool and Ben had his first girlfriend (of course he'd had crushes, but it never hit him that he should grab tail until high school when a girl whacked him metaphorically over the head with a frying pan), that ended after the first week. She came around smelling of his best friend Eddy for a couple of days before he confronted her on it.

His supernatural abilities made it hard for him to fit in sometimes, but there were two things he loved above all else: Soccer and riding horses and often those were the only two things that mattered. At seventeen he convinced his parents to purchase lessons at a local stable, he took to it like a duck to water. Within the year he had his own competition horse and he was jumping, bending polls, cutting cattle - it was so easy for him.

Ben's career in soccer was short lived when he snapped his ankle after being viciously "mistakenly" kicked the other team's star player. It didn't end his career, but Ben was ready to just solely focus on riding, thanks to his abilities his ankle looked as good as new with regrown bone.

He and his horse "Num Nut Bar" was a stunning dark bay thoroughbred worked well together. However Ben was forced to retire when he went to college, "Nutty" had taken a bad fall and was euthanized the year before.

In college, Ben focused his studies on animals, he didn't want to be a vet - but he wanted to know. His minor was in native american folklore, something he found fascinating. For example, he was surprised to learn that skinwalkers were actually extremely bad omens in a tribe. They represented an unclean soul looking for revenge, who would not stop until they were sated. He wrote several "what if" papers detailing his own personal life (an anonymous writer). Ben was finally nearing graduation when he met Sarah.

She had been biking and not looking where she was going - Ben had music in his ears and didn't hear or see her coming. Inevitably, she crashed into him in a mess of mechanical bits and human body parts. Ben sustained the most egregious wound (a small slash on his arm, his healing abilities would have it gone by morning). But laughed it off, they kept talking to an impromptu lunch date and they didn't look back.

Two months later Ben graduated and moved into Sarah's house (she was renting a two bedroom) and the natural attraction between them caused a great deal of happiness. They took turns introducing their parents to each other, it was a smile of roses.

Three years later Ben eventually asked Sarah to marry him, her answer was of course yes. Four months later and Mr. and Ms. Heartager moved to a larger house, their white gold rings displayed happily for the world to see.

It was two years of bliss before the unspeakable happened, and thus started Ben down the road of the hunter. Despite what his kind was, he knew that despite the punishment for being an abomination (and therefore evil) was a silver bullet, he went on. After all, no more families had to suffer like he had. Too many had suffered more than he had already, and each one they stopped was one more blissful moment. Ben had known very little about anything when he'd started, now he knew just about everything there was to know (and Bobby Singer usually had the answers if he didn't.)

He slide into the truck and smiled at Tik, "Okay, ready for the next adventure?"


	7. Monthlies

Things weren't nice to Tik during that time of the month. No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, it always happened. The timing of it varied little, and there she was, sitting next to the toilet. Her face felt green, and her eyes were closed. All around her was tattered and smelly remains of other skins, other people she'd worn.

Oh yes, Tik's abilities didn't come without a price. She had been blonde, legs-to-there with a rack to match Ms Carefree Sandy Benham. Now she was sick. For what ever reason as soon as Tik hit her fertile period her shifter abilities when crazy. Usually she could just faze in and out of her bodies, but now she was shedding.

And if there was one thing Tik hated more than anything it was shedding. She let out a whole new scream as her body rippled with a fresh change. She winced as her ribs cracked and warped, as her hands twitched and split at the fingertips. She cried out as her teeth popped out, falling into the toilet. On thing was for sure:

The Toothfairy would be feeling mighty poor after tonight.

Tik whimper and then looked up as she heard scratching at the door. She didn't make a sound, but the scratching grew more frequent until the door opened. In stepped her faithful companion. He slunk low on his belly, his ears pulled back and brown eyes worried. He whined as her skin rippled and she bowed her head, gritting her new teeth as auburn hair sprouted. Her now brown eyes looked back up at Ben and she smiled.

"You know, any other man would just run away," she told him weakly. "But not you. You damn dog." She cursed at him weakly, her wet hand lifted up and Ben shoved his head under it.

_But I'm not just any other man, Tik. I happen to be a dog,_ Ben's voice was dry as he delivered a rather lame pun. He was rewarded when Tik laughed at him.

"Aye, you are a dog, Ben." She smiled and closed her eyes, safe until another change decided to force it's way over her skin. She breathed easier and stared down at him. Affection lit her sweet brown eyes. "You're always there when I need you, despite everything. Despite what I am." Tik's eyes gained a faraway look. God. How many times had she been called a freak? An abomination? Murderer of her own kind? Her self doubt plagued her like a swarm of flies, crawling all over her skin.

_Tik_, Ben's voice called her back, he stared up at her with his puppy dog eyes, _You are not like them. If you think like that, them am I any better than my own kind? I have never drawn human blood without reason_. Tik shook her head, her hand lifting up off the dog's head to grip the porcelain white bowl tight.

It wasn't always this bad, to be absolutely honest. Only the first two or so days was she toilet bowl centric. But during those days...

Tik's eyes closed tight as she felt her innards rearranging painfully. She let out short gasps of air, nearly panting with pain. She looked at Ben, how easy did he had it. Male, changed into a dog. Got to piss anywhere he really felt like pissing. She gave him a weak snarl, his perky fucking ears shot up and he tilted his head.

Dangit, she couldn't handle him when he was being adorable like this. Not when she felt like she'd be sick to her stomach at any time. Speaking of...

Her head plunged into the bowl and her body retched, nothing came up and it didn't feel better afterwards. She just felt sick. She looked at the dog again and couldn't even muster a growl at him. She just lay there, her head on the cold bowl. A shiver passed over her body, her now golden eyes turned towards the ceiling. She felt her conscious slipping away...

Ben whined as he felt her mind drift, he whirled to the bedroom and grabbed up a thick blanket. Reverting back to his human form, he laid it over her bare flesh. He wanted take all this pain away from her. How dare people call them freaks, how dare they hated them because of what others had done. Weren't there people out there who broke the norm?

Who cared about the freaks?

Who didn't judge them just because of circumstances beyond their control?


End file.
